中國“監(jiān)管風暴”沖擊對沖基金業(yè)

China’s crackdown on debt has slammed the country’s nascent hedge fund industry, as a bear market in bonds prompts banks to withdraw funds they had parked with external bond managers, cutting a key source of funds. Hedge funds barely existed in China five years ago, at least not formally, though a small group of superstar fund managers had operated in a regulatory grey zone.

中國對債務的打擊沖擊了國內(nèi)新興的對沖基金業(yè)。債券市場熊市促使銀行撤回先前存放于外部債券管理公司的資金，切斷了后者的一個主要資金來源。5年前，對沖基金在中國幾乎不存在(至少不正式存在)，盡管少數(shù)幾位明星基金經(jīng)理在監(jiān)管灰色地帶操作。

The industry boomed during the stock bubble of 2015, with the number of hedge funds increasing to more than 15,000 at the end of that year from less than 4,000 a year earlier. A wave of experienced asset managers left jobs at state-owned mutual fund companies and investment banks, lured by the possibility of bigger pay packages linked to the rising market.

對沖基金業(yè)在2015年股市泡沫期間蓬勃發(fā)展，截至當年底，對沖基金的數(shù)量從上一年的不足4000只增至逾1.5萬只。受到伴隨股市飆漲的更大“薪酬包”的誘惑，國有共同基金公司和投資銀行的經(jīng)驗豐富的資產(chǎn)經(jīng)理們紛紛跳槽。

The bursting of the stock bubble in the summer of 2015 dealt a blow to equity hedge funds, but a subsequent run-up in the bond market sustained the industry through 2016.

2015年夏股市泡沫的破裂對股票對沖基金造成了打擊，但隨后出現(xiàn)的債券市場漲勢幫助對沖基金業(yè)挺過了2016年。

But bonds suffered a rout last year, as the central bank pushed up interest rates and the regulator launched a “regulatory windstorm” that discouraged banks from using leverage to boost returns on bond investments. Employment in the “private fund” industry, which includes private equity, venture funds and hedge funds, fell by nearly 40,000 in the 12 months to the end of January, according to the Asset Management Association of China (Amac).

但去年債券市場遭遇了重創(chuàng)，央行提高利率，而監(jiān)管機構(gòu)發(fā)起“監(jiān)管風暴”，阻止了銀行利用杠桿來提振債券投資的回報率。中國證券投資基金業(yè)協(xié)會(AMAC)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，在截至今年1月底的12個月里，包括私人股本、風險基金和對沖基金在內(nèi)的“私募基金”行業(yè)的從業(yè)人數(shù)減少了近4萬人。

“Last year, the industry started to polarise. Superstar managers expanded fiercely, but most institutions are having big difficulties raising funds,” said Tao Yu, a partner at Brilliance Asset, a Shanghai-based hedge fund. “Financial regulation keeps getting stricter. Private funds that used to partner with banks and trust companies are searching for a new business model.”

“去年，該行業(yè)開始出現(xiàn)兩極分化。超級明星管理公司拼命擴張，但多數(shù)機構(gòu)在籌資方面遇到了很大的困難，”總部位于上海的對沖基金金元百利(SGBAMC)合伙人Tao Yu表示，“金融監(jiān)管變得越來越嚴。過去與銀行和信托公司合作的私募基金正在尋找一種新的商業(yè)模式。”

In January alone, Amac revoked registrations for 21 private fund institutions because the association lost contact with them entirely, compared with only 68 such incidents in the three years to the end of 2017. Bonds are the asset of choice backing wealth management products — short-maturity investments that banks market to household and corporate clients as a higher-yielding alternative to traditional term deposits.

僅在1月份，由于完全失聯(lián)，中國證券投資基金業(yè)協(xié)會就撤銷了21家私募基金機構(gòu)的注冊，而在截至2017年底的3年里，此類事件只發(fā)生過68起。債券是支持理財產(chǎn)品(銀行對家庭和企業(yè)客戶營銷的短期投資，是對傳統(tǒng)定期存款的更高收益替代品)的首選資產(chǎn)。

Small and mid-size banks, which lack expertise in asset management, often farm out the management to external managers. So-called entrusted investments by banks became a crucial source of inflows for hedge funds. “Tighter regulation has hit entrusted investment, plus the bond market was weak. Most banks decided to cash out their investments on maturity,” said Dong Chunxiao at Pacific Securities in Beijing. “I think this is a long-term trend.”

缺乏資產(chǎn)管理專長的中小型銀行，經(jīng)常將資產(chǎn)管理外包給外部管理機構(gòu)。銀行所謂的委托投資成為對沖基金資金流入的重要來源。“更嚴格的監(jiān)管打擊了委托投資，加上債券市場疲軟。多數(shù)銀行決定到期提取投資，”太平洋證券(Pacific Securities)在北京的股票策略師董春曉表示，“我認為這是一個長期趨勢。”